Opponent and other news and results 2025-2026

[Weder]

This annoys me to no end 😡
I understand he has to do what is best for him but what the heck ever happened to commitment

I'll just say that you never know the circumstances. Maybe he's miserable in Ithaca or has some other reason to want to leave.

Or maybe he's pursuing a big bag of cash. I can't really fault him for that, either.

I get it but wondering how a prospective employer looks at these types of situations beyond hockey

I think it's irrelevant these days. I changed employers every couple years for about a decade with no issues, and it's common in many industries.

[adamw]

This annoys me to no end 😡
I understand he has to do what is best for him but what the heck ever happened to commitment

I'll just say that you never know the circumstances. Maybe he's miserable in Ithaca or has some other reason to want to leave.

Or maybe he's pursuing a big bag of cash. I can't really fault him for that, either.

I get it but wondering how a prospective employer looks at these types of situations beyond hockey

I think it's irrelevant these days. I changed employers every couple years for about a decade with no issues, and it's common in many industries.

coach told me today that he knows kids at the u-18 girls hockey level that have been on 4 teams in 4 years. He said "it's the societal norm in youth sports these days" ... they don't think anything of jumping around.

[stereax]

This annoys me to no end 😡
I understand he has to do what is best for him but what the heck ever happened to commitment

I'll just say that you never know the circumstances. Maybe he's miserable in Ithaca or has some other reason to want to leave.

Or maybe he's pursuing a big bag of cash. I can't really fault him for that, either.

I get it but wondering how a prospective employer looks at these types of situations beyond hockey

I think it's irrelevant these days. I changed employers every couple years for about a decade with no issues, and it's common in many industries.

coach told me today that he knows kids at the u-18 girls hockey level that have been on 4 teams in 4 years. He said "it's the societal norm in youth sports these days" ... they don't think anything of jumping around.

Yeah, I think the question was more, in a professional, post-hockey setting, "why did you start your degree at Cornell and end it at (idk) WMU?" and the answer is "I played college hockey".

[RichH]

This annoys me to no end 😡
I understand he has to do what is best for him but what the heck ever happened to commitment

I'll just say that you never know the circumstances. Maybe he's miserable in Ithaca or has some other reason to want to leave.

Or maybe he's pursuing a big bag of cash. I can't really fault him for that, either.

I get it but wondering how a prospective employer looks at these types of situations beyond hockey

I think it's irrelevant these days. I changed employers every couple years for about a decade with no issues, and it's common in many industries.

I had to convince my parents' friends that just because I worked for 3 companies in 4 years, there wasn't anything wrong with me. They were used to a world where everyone would work for a company for 40 years and get a gold watch and a pension at the end.

[BearLover]

In hindsight, we shouldn't be surprised that the guy that bailed on his MJAHL team as soon as he got a chance in the Q, and bailed on his Q team as soon as he got a chance in college left for a better opportunity. I'm somewhat hopeful that this first wave of CHL guys will use the portal like crazy but it will wind down a little in the future

Hockey players switch teams all the time. The problem is more that these late-blooming CHL kids probably don't care about education at all, they just want the fastest opportunity to jump up a level in hockey. If a kid commits to an Ivy at a younger age it indicates they and their family are specifically seeking out an education.

[stereax]

In hindsight, we shouldn't be surprised that the guy that bailed on his MJAHL team as soon as he got a chance in the Q, and bailed on his Q team as soon as he got a chance in college left for a better opportunity. I'm somewhat hopeful that this first wave of CHL guys will use the portal like crazy but it will wind down a little in the future

Hockey players switch teams all the time. The problem is more that these late-blooming CHL kids probably don't care about education at all, they just want the fastest opportunity to jump up a level in hockey. If a kid commits to an Ivy at a younger age it indicates they and their family are specifically seeking out an education.

And the guys who want an education are gonna be the ones who stay for four years and graduate. (Or at least three and maybe overload on credits or do summer classes.)

[Trotsky]

In hindsight, we shouldn't be surprised that the guy that bailed on his MJAHL team as soon as he got a chance in the Q, and bailed on his Q team as soon as he got a chance in college left for a better opportunity. I'm somewhat hopeful that this first wave of CHL guys will use the portal like crazy but it will wind down a little in the future

Hockey players switch teams all the time. The problem is more that these late-blooming CHL kids probably don't care about education at all, they just want the fastest opportunity to jump up a level in hockey. If a kid commits to an Ivy at a younger age it indicates they and their family are specifically seeking out an education.

I think you are right in general, having observed CHL players from a very close distance for years in the WHL.  But there are two other factors which allow for fringe cases of CHL players with sincere academic ambition.  (1) The CHL is pulling in players at 16, so the windows do not overlap exactly.  I suspect there are families who have their eyes on American universities all along but who will put their son into the CHL system at that age to hone his skills to attract an NC$$ offer down the line.  (2) Players age out of the CHL at 20.  That means there are players who get an entire CHL career under their belt, and are good enough to be strong college players but not good enough to make the N, who can then go on to a full four year college career as serious students.

Again, I think in > 90% of the cases you're right, CHL players are very nice boys but they make Q players look like MIT students.  But there are edge cases we would be attractive to and who would commit to a full four years.

[Trotsky]

This annoys me to no end 😡
I understand he has to do what is best for him but what the heck ever happened to commitment

I'll just say that you never know the circumstances. Maybe he's miserable in Ithaca or has some other reason to want to leave.

Or maybe he's pursuing a big bag of cash. I can't really fault him for that, either.

I get it but wondering how a prospective employer looks at these types of situations beyond hockey

I think it's irrelevant these days. I changed employers every couple years for about a decade with no issues, and it's common in many industries.

I had to convince my parents' friends that just because I worked for 3 companies in 4 years, there wasn't anything wrong with me. They were used to a world where everyone would work for a company for 40 years and get a gold watch and a pension at the end.

This must have been a while ago though.  It's been the case for decades where if you stay at a place more than 4 years you are suspect.

[Trotsky]

In hindsight, we shouldn't be surprised that the guy that bailed on his MJAHL team as soon as he got a chance in the Q, and bailed on his Q team as soon as he got a chance in college left for a better opportunity. I'm somewhat hopeful that this first wave of CHL guys will use the portal like crazy but it will wind down a little in the future

Yeah, but why Cornell then?  I'm sure he also had looks from the very western contenders he is rumored to be looking at now. 

I thought, perhaps naively, that if a player chose Cornell that indicated the education, or at least the designer label, factored in.  I am super disappointed of course, but more I am surprised, and I have been in enough weird situations that I am hard to surprise at this point.  This doesn't make sense to me unless it is purely mercenary and some program and/or alum dropped a shit ton of payola on him.  In which case, vaya con Dios.

[RichH]

This annoys me to no end 😡
I understand he has to do what is best for him but what the heck ever happened to commitment

I'll just say that you never know the circumstances. Maybe he's miserable in Ithaca or has some other reason to want to leave.

Or maybe he's pursuing a big bag of cash. I can't really fault him for that, either.

I get it but wondering how a prospective employer looks at these types of situations beyond hockey

I think it's irrelevant these days. I changed employers every couple years for about a decade with no issues, and it's common in many industries.

I had to convince my parents' friends that just because I worked for 3 companies in 4 years, there wasn't anything wrong with me. They were used to a world where everyone would work for a company for 40 years and get a gold watch and a pension at the end.

This must have been a while ago though.  It's been the case for decades where if you stay at a place more than 4 years you are suspect.

True.

You know I'm an old now. This was nearly 25 years ago, before GMail. At least now they have moon missions again to feel that 1968 vibe.

[marty]

In hindsight, we shouldn't be surprised that the guy that bailed on his MJAHL team as soon as he got a chance in the Q, and bailed on his Q team as soon as he got a chance in college left for a better opportunity. I'm somewhat hopeful that this first wave of CHL guys will use the portal like crazy but it will wind down a little in the future

Yeah, but why Cornell then?  I'm sure he also had looks from the very western contenders he is rumored to be looking at now. 

Perhaps we believe Casey when he said he and the rest of the staff did everything they could to sell him and XV on Cornell.

I find Casey so upbeat that I believe he was a deciding factor.

[The Rancor]

Cournoyer entering portal. Competing for national titles was fun while it lasted.

siiigh. this too shall pass... but HOLY FUCK is it annoying.

how much money is being thrown at him?

Not trying to relitigate this but highly doubt it's about money

He's the starter at a good hockey team that makes the NCAAs on the regular. Why would you transfer out if it wasn't scholarship/other money?

Before I read 4 more pages on this... I called it. Oh well. Who's next?

[stereax]

Cournoyer entering portal. Competing for national titles was fun while it lasted.

siiigh. this too shall pass... but HOLY FUCK is it annoying.

how much money is being thrown at him?

Not trying to relitigate this but highly doubt it's about money

He's the starter at a good hockey team that makes the NCAAs on the regular. Why would you transfer out if it wasn't scholarship/other money?

Before I read 4 more pages on this... I called it. Oh well. Who's next?

No like - when I saw it I was like "well, of course he got NIL baited to transfer, there's no other reason to leave Cornell, a program that develops good goalies and is always competitive" and literally nothing I have heard since disconceives me of that notion.

And I know we demonize the NIL stuff because we can't do it because Ivy Bullshit, but, like - money is ontologically neutral here. Young guys like being paid - honestly, as they should, because they have far more obligations than a normal student and sacrifice their time and in many cases their bodies for the team. It's a form of employment in and of itself. And for some, money is a very important factor because the Ivies are Fuckass Expensive. And I get transferring if you're worried about paying for future years of education and things like that. (Which, imo, there should ABSOLUTELY be some sort of way that Cornell hockey deals with those issues! I'm sure they have ideas and probably some form of procedure, but...)

The problem arises moreso when you start using the NIL basically to buy players. (See: McKenna, Martone, etc.) To repeat, I don't really mind that players are getting paid (whether that be in scholarship or outside it), but the current "bidding war" situation we're seeing with top prospects is insane. And yes, on one hand, if the market value is 700k or 350k, the player should absolutely pursue it, but on the other hand, I can tell you for SURE that other guys on PSU, MSU, etc, weren't making that kind of money. And sure, yes, these guys are talented and that's why they make that money, but at the same time, it's all artificially sour.

[BearLover]

Cournoyer entering portal. Competing for national titles was fun while it lasted.

siiigh. this too shall pass... but HOLY FUCK is it annoying.

how much money is being thrown at him?

Not trying to relitigate this but highly doubt it's about money

He's the starter at a good hockey team that makes the NCAAs on the regular. Why would you transfer out if it wasn't scholarship/other money?

Before I read 4 more pages on this... I called it. Oh well. Who's next?

No like - when I saw it I was like "well, of course he got NIL baited to transfer, there's no other reason to leave Cornell, a program that develops good goalies and is always competitive" and literally nothing I have heard since disconceives me of that notion.

Money is a possible reason on top of ten other possible reasons. It could be the main reason, it could not be a factor, it could be just one reason on top of all the others. This is all just speculation. I would not be surprised if he was having a hard time with his classes though.

[The Rancor]

Cournoyer entering portal. Competing for national titles was fun while it lasted.

siiigh. this too shall pass... but HOLY FUCK is it annoying.

how much money is being thrown at him?

Not trying to relitigate this but highly doubt it's about money

He's the starter at a good hockey team that makes the NCAAs on the regular. Why would you transfer out if it wasn't scholarship/other money?

Before I read 4 more pages on this... I called it. Oh well. Who's next?

No like - when I saw it I was like "well, of course he got NIL baited to transfer, there's no other reason to leave Cornell, a program that develops good goalies and is always competitive" and literally nothing I have heard since disconceives me of that notion.

And everyone is overlooking the possibility that THIS was the NIL pit-stop for Courns. Some Dough Ray Me for one season with a VERY talented returning core... IDK but it's adieu Mon Amie! I've also said, as have you Stereax, that it might be the school. If he's been in Juniors in Quebec the last 3 years, he hasn't done a lot of homework, outside of RVH training. CHL guys aren't super into books, math or much other than hockey.

edit addition: It could also be his agent or the Canadians. Maybe they want him somewhere else, for any number of reasons. Like, money.